Animation Preproduction

[animationpp]

Animatic

I completed the animatic for episode 2 which i may end up making episode 1 but ill make another post about that soon. I added sounds and its does communicate more effectively this way, even though I'm still very certain i dont plan to use sounds and animation in the final episodes, but it was very useful for finding out if some of the dialogue sounded unrealistic or robotic, as when you read it can sound different in your head to how it does out loud. Its interesting to see just how much the dialogue has changed from the script to now. 

for example: the script didn't include Lucas thought process on the aura colours he sees during the memory (a part of his ability) but it seemed to jump to him suddenly knowing what the colour green meant without enough explanation so i added in the thought process and it seemed to flow better.

*this thought process, wasn't in the original script. thought it makes it clearer how he manages to con his clients so far.

*and this is how another scenes dialogue sounded in the script.

vs how it came out: 

a lot of the time i have to edit down. I need to try keep words limited, in the bubbles, it seems like a max of 20 words in a bubble is best.

[animationpp]

Animatic?

I am attempting to make a preview scrolling for the animatic part of the module, i think this is the closest i can get to an animatic for a comic, as the only movement is the scrolling. This seems to be rather useful for checking the pacing (space between panels and layout etc, also the text bubbles)

preview of the animatic so far is on google drive (resolution is low for the file to upload): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iYppS6SHgw1qvfKUjeZmEN6Rfw140D4N/view?usp=sharing

[animationpp]

Ran into an issue (webtoon 100 file limit)

So i discovered a small issue when doing a test upload to Webtoon. You can only upload a maximum of 100 files for 1 episode, now i thought that each panel would count as a file so as long as I'm under 100 panels it would be fine, but no, that isn't the case, unfortunately once you add in the spaces/gaps where required to space out the panels effectively, this can take up quite a bit of space and ends up counting as a ‘file’ (each file being 800 x 1280). This just means my episode is, at the moment, too long, i will either need to shorten the episode or cut the episode earlier. i will re evaluate the episode and see if i can cut anything out, but as i did this already a few times i dont think i can remove anymore from the story as everything is necessary and plays a part in the following episodes. 

I've done a test scrolling, using the webtoon mobile Preview at where I think I could cut/end the episode, and then pick back up with the next scene. On the grid system it would be at no.8 (once the client leaves the shop), so I'm cutting down by half as the episode cut/ends at no.16 before (Lucas waking in the abyss).

I've linked it in google drive below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e9dDoL2mp6PD7k1M3wVPqbMYg9_ta8Cu/view?usp=sharing

I was worried that there wouldn't be enough in an episode if i cut it at No.8 but i think that there's still plenty going on (the shops possible closure, conning the wealthy client, the memory scene, being able to pay the bill). Even though it doesn't end on a cliff-hanger i believe it makes the reader question if Lucas shop is actually safe or if what he did will come back to haunt him, ending on either a cliff-hanger or an unanswered question is what I need to aim for.

[animationpp]

More story boarding process... what seems to take the longest is figuring out the composition and space between panels! It’s got to flow right for the reader, if the panels are too close then the reader will feel bombarded with information too quickly. I have to remember to make sure to space the panels out well and give the readers eyes a rest now and then

[animationpp]

Note: scenes that will require more detail in the final webtoon, will be slightly more detailed in the storyboard. Example: the outside scene with moon

[animationpp]

Testing Line Webtoon Website upload process

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VpPp3VjqytVbnqiiB95NcyhMMAoYeCfqcBi0vAgohy0/edit?usp=sharing

the process is straightforward enough. 

[animationpp]

Storyboard Edits

still in process of making the whole storyboard for episode 2, but panels 1 to 39 are complete! below are some changes i made along the way:

There was a few different things which needed changing with compositions and the text bubbles. below is the changed version:

WORK PROCESS:

I work on the storyboard in procreate on iPad, vertical strips of 5 to 9 (cant go past 9 due to large file size), each strip is approx. 800 pixels wide (the width required when uploading to Line Webtoon). working like this helps me see the overall composition whilst working on the storyboards. i will then move to photoshop to add the text into the speech bubbles, and to cut each individual strip and create 1 long strip below, to check the pacing and readability as you scroll the long canvas, any final changes are made at this point. Then final production on the very long canvas can begin. Planning to use clip studio paint for the final product as it has many useful tools for speeding up production, like dragging in panels and speech/thought bubbles and using 3D models as reference for backgrounds characters and settings.

[animationpp]

After effects making an ‘Animatic’ for a comic

Its not exact an animatic but it does serve as a video version of the comic, previewing the scrolling effect and giving myself a better idea of how the reader is going to perceive it when reading, using the vertical scrolling format. This also may be the only way I can present this in a way that is clear to the rest of my peers, as just showing my story board may get confusing.

I contacted Stan Evans to figure out how i can do this and he gave me a file with a project inside, that meant i could figure out a way of using this for what i need.

“I would still head for After Effects to get this job done. I have attached an example After Effects project to help you. There are five compositions with pictures inside them (the advantage about using compositions is you can change what's inside them and not disrupt the nested comps. These comps have been placed in a very long composition called "long comp". If you need the comp to be a certain size just do this in the height of the comp -  1080*10 (or whatever the number of compositions, you have). I then placed the "long comp" inside a composition called "scroll final"(1920x1080 size) You could then either use the offset tool which I used which moves the "long comp" in a loop or you could just keyframe the position of "long comp" composition.” - Stan's Email with very useful info.

[animationpp]

storyboard panels 1 - 39

plan to finish the rest of the panels by Wednesday, hopefully i can speed up the more i get used to composition, panels and text placement. i think the majority of time spent isn't on drawing but moving things around o make sure the flow and pacing is right.

i noticed lots of tiny mistakes while working, which is great because it means im learning more the further i work on this. like for example the speech bubble’s should generally be more wide rather than tall, as to use the most of the space on the screen.

[animationpp]

research on amount of panels in thriller genre webtoons

thought it would be a good idea to analyse how many panels other comic artists use to tell each episode. focusing on thriller genre in particular. They seem rather varied. The comics with more suspense seem to have more panels. The thrillers with a lot of fast paced action, use less panels.

Its mine by LuckS averaging between 100 - 126 panels an episode

Bastard by Carnby Kim averaging between 80 - 90 panels an episode

HIVE by Kyusam kim averaging between 60 - 80 Panels

Rot & Ruin by Taylor Grant and Alempe averaging between 60 - 90 Panels

[animationpp]

Webtoon creation process

So thought its a good idea to list the creation process which i think works for start to finish on the pre production of a web comic/webtoon (i can come back here when I start a new one again for a refresher) :

START CREATING:

1. Concept/idea + Genre

2. Main Character 

3. setting

4. Beginning 

5. Middle 

6. End

Concept/Idea: This can stem from a truth you want to tell the world, or it can just be a scene idea or even a character you have and want to work with. An interesting way of making an idea or theme; Define your TRUTH (ex: I am valued), Flip it and make it a LIE (ex: I am not valued). Find LIE origin in characters past (what's their misbelief?, what caused them to have this misbelief. example: A parent abandoning them?). Look for patterns establishing the LIE as the the truth. By the 3rd ACT of the story the character will discover the TRUTH (ex: I am valued). You can find the genre from looking at the theme or the idea, would it suit better as a horror or a romance?

If no ideas/themes come to mind, get some images, or words (random ones) and start trying to make a story concept or idea from the images and words. For example (using words): Dragon, Contempt, Love, pen.

From doing this you can then start writing a summary/synopsis for the story. The synopsis should hint at what could happen in the middle or the end, but mainly has to tell you: Who the characters are, what they want (why its important the character and who they are, get what they want), what's in their way (looming antagonistic force?), what the setting is. Once the story is summarized you can talk about techniques and platforms (vertical scroller, A4 page, printed, online etc websites? Tapas, webtoon, hive works etc, what style? what colours? darker/contrasting for a thriller? pastel colours for a romance? black and white for a horror?)

Main character: what's their fear and desire? What is the character’s misbelief (what do they continue to tell themselves over and over based on their fear? how can they discover the truth? How does their desire push them forward and how will it help overcome the fear? Without any desire the fear would take over and the character would have no reason to continue living)

Setting: Where should your story be set? is it a mad up world, is it a mix of cultures? does it need to be a fantasy world for the concept to work better? set in the Victorian period? or the future? a dystopian or utopian world? A tiny house in a village? a mansion on a Hawaiian island? a city? a school? a boat stranded at sea? pick a setting your character or theme/idea works best in. A modern futuristic city would not work well with characters from the middle ages, unless... time travel?

The Beginning, middle and end: Getting an outline for what you want to happen in the beginning, the middle and end will help making the episodes easier to write. If you know what a character is going towards, who they will meet (other characters who drive the plot forward) and what obstacles will get in their way on the journey. When writing an outline a good method is to use the 3 ACT structure or the hero's journey for reference. Recommended book: The writers journey by Christopher Vogler. Recommended YouTube channel: Abbie Emmons (she is a novelist not a webtoon creator, but her information on character driven stories is incredibly useful if you want your webtoon to be character driven, which most are.)

[animationpp]

Script...

Just finished re writing the script for episode 2, pretty happy with it now, although i couldn't get the panel count below 100, I've figured out why though; It would seem that the more suspense you put into a webtoon, the more panels you have to draw to slow the pacing down, and when you slow the pacing you have to draw... a lot. So this episode was 100 panels in total, but i think the rest of the episodes will average on 70 panels.

 I think its worth it for the effect.

[animationpp]

Changed Daniel (he looked too much like a salary man before 😂) also Lucas now has his sisters scarf attached to his belt. Changed sisters clothes, was not happy with the colors and the ‘summer’ style she had going on. Wouldn’t work in British weather. Added moons to her skirt for obvious reasons.

Playing with line weight and expression a little more

[animationpp]

Link to episode 2 grid system

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iNRAShugV6Ue2-bZVi0o95mKDeg5B8rjF2ekHiWcL9c/edit?usp=sharing

I really tried to structure the episode with the focus points and turning points, it was definitely useful to see if the pacing was ok in the episode. I did change the ending a little as well. i even managed to locate an inciting incident (i think) even though its not the ‘whole series’ inciting incident, which is the sister death and the falling out with Daniel in episode 1.

[animationpp]

Making  grid system that works for webtoon episodes

So after analysing some episodes i came to the realisation i will need to adapt the grid system a bit to match the structure of a webtoon episode. What i have discovered is that a lot of episodes vary, some will have more turning points and some will have the main inciting incident (for the story) and some will end on cliff-hangers and some will end on a resolution. so ive tried my best to make a file i can re use in the future to structure my webtoon episodes, which ill then be able to make scripts from. I tested it by trying to break down episode 3 of the comic ELECEED as shown below, i tried to find as many focus and turning points as possible, as for an inciting incident, i dont think there is one in this particular episode. hopefully I've analysed this correct.

[animationpp]

Analysing episode 2 of webtoons

to help me understand how i should structure my webtoon’s episode 2, i need to look at others as examples...

So after looking at the structure of episode 2 of Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe, i found that the structure seem pretty simple, and not a lot happens yet the plot does move forward. there is 35 panels aprox in the episode.

https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/lore-olympus/episode-2/viewer?title_no=1320&episode_no=2

in summary: Episode 2′s main purpose in Lore Olympus is for Hades to meet Persephone, which i assume to be the inciting incident of the romance series. The episode starts with Persephone (main character) feeling uncomfortable in her mini dress before attending a ‘prom of sorts’ and being encouraged by her friend. Then switches point of view to hades, being fed up at the prom because he has no date (got dumped in the first episode), someone knocks a drink out of Persephone's hand and she falls over, this is where Hades meets her. Then the episode ends. so i dont think this follows the 3 acts grid system structure but instead a very simple: set up - incident - and then cliff hanger. I think the entire series follows the 3 act structure as an outline, but not the individual episodes. 

Next i analysed a thriller webtoon called Rot&Ruin. Episode 2 has 97 panels (thrillers have more panels as you need more to build suspense i guess) and the structure is a little more complex than Lore olympus but still pretty simple. 

In summary: The main purpose is to set the young character off to look for a job in this ‘zombie’ alternate world reality. which I'm assuming the job will end up becoming the inciting incident.

This episode starts with the main character; a teen boy, ‘testing’ a metal fence around the perimeter of the village or town which is protecting the people from zombies outside the fence. he is bored on his ‘job’ so he ends up getting attacked by a zombie which breaks down the fence. he then looses that job. Next scene is in a tavern of sorts, and the character is now with 3 other friends all similar age, discussing about jobs and the main character introduces some sort of hatred towards his own brother. He seems to look up to 2 very bulky warrior type men who enter the tavern, and brag about how they beat up and killed some zombies. I'm sensing this may be foreshadowing, perhaps those men will end up being dislikeable and the main character will then start to look up to his brother instead. At the end of the episode the character has flashbacks to when his friend died because he wasn't able to keep a job, he then looks through a list of possible jobs and all are crossed out except for erosion artist. episode ends there.

structure seems to be: Set up - focus point - inciting incident (the flashback of friends death) - turning point (decides to do the final job on the list, so he doesn't end up like the friend) 

maybe when I'm structuring the episodes with the grid system i can use the focus points and turning points as the main form of structuring. for example episode 2 would be SET UP - FOCUS POINT - TURNING POINT/INCIDENT (the turning point being the cliff hanger or question which gets answered in the next episode)

ill try just using focus points and turning points for the 2nd episode grid system and use the inciting incident when it appears in the entire series plot, as there isn't inciting incidents in every episode. (my inciting incident is the sisters death which occurs in episode 1)

[animationpp]

using the grid system/story structure chart

So after some feedback i feel i need to do a smaller grid system for episode 2 which i am scripting and storyboarding for. But i know that webtoon episodes tend to not follow the 3 Act structure exactly so I'm going to need to analyse episodes 2 of some other webtoons so i can get an understanding of the way they are structured. I think the grid works well for the entire series, as a way to outline everything that's going to happen through out the series but not sure how i can use it for individual episodes. I know the majority of episodes end on a cliff-hanger so there is no resolution, there's usually unanswered questions which then get answered in the next episode (good way to bring readers back to the next episode)